Game of tag...

So, my good friend Dan C. Got "tagged" by a friend, and then decided to "tag" me. Apparently this means I have to answer these questions he was posed. Kinda like those "gettin-to-know-you" emails that I only do when I'm REALLY bored. Anyway, here they are, con respuestas...

1. What is the total number of books I've owned?
--- Hmm.. Probably a few dozen. I'm pickier with books than I am with music, at least what I buy. Luckily I live with Erika and her siblings, which gives me access to the coolest, geekiest stuff available! A plethora, if you will. Yes, I would say we have a plethora.

2. What is the last book I bought?
--- I think it was Time Travel in Einstein's Universe. I have ten or so books on time travel. The quantum physics behind it, practical implications, theories, etc. Non-fiction stuff. I also have a large metal contraption I've been building in the garage. It's a... um... weather experiment. Yeah, that's it. Don't touch!

3. What is the last book I've read?
--- This totally counts as a book, I don't care what anyone says. I just finished (last night actually) the Sandman series of comics, in graphic novel form. Took me only a few weeks in between calls at work. And let me just say.. HOLY SHIT! Such incredible stories. I couldn't believe it. I laughed out loud, teared up, got chills down my back in parts. Great continuity, which is something I love in long stories. Like Babylon 5, where at the end, they tie up shit that happened at the very beginning of the series. Wow. Seriously, people, if you haven't read them, come over. Bring beer and we'll let you sit in our living room for 20 hours or so and read 'em all. I really hope no one makes a shitty movie out of them, although if done well, they are very movie-esque. They're also very deep and emotional and get you thinking about the world. Dreaming and death, mostly. Man, oh man. I could go on forever, but only Hob Gadling has that luxury (that we know of, at least).

4. What are the 5 books that have meant a lot to me?
--- This is a tough one. I'll probably change my mind later, but here goes.
a. A Wrinkle in Time - Read it first in 4th grade for shits and giggles. I think it was required in 5th grade, too. Since then I've probably read it 6 or so times. Every few years I go back. I don't know, it just spoke to me in a special way I guess. Me, being the time-travel geek I am. Disney made a horrific movie out of it with the little kid from The Ring as Charles Wallace. Ugh.. I used to go outside on warm summer nights when I was a kid and try to tesseract. Look up at the sky and wonder what I had to mentally do to bend the universe and travel wherever I wanted to go. Never worked, but I sure must've looked silly!
b. Breakfast Of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. for those of you not in the know. This was the first book of his I read and I was hooked. He's a great writer and storyteller. Peter from BORD got me into him. There really isn't describing it. Just great fiction. Entertaining. A little bit of sci-fi at times. Not too much, for those of you afraid of that sorta thing!
c. The Monster at the End of This Book - Grover. Sesame Street. The reason I picked this one is because my dad used to read it to me when I was in my late teens. Just kidding. I was probably 2 or something. He read it with such expression and vigor, it really stuck in my mind. He doesn't give himself enough credit for being a good father, but he should. Weird how it's little stuff like that that I remember.
d. Black Holes and Baby Universes - A collection of essays from Stephen Hawking. You know, the "wheelchair guy". Ben Webster let me borrow this once, and from there I was in a downward spiral of quantum geekdom. It's an easy read, and he's actually an entertaining guy. I think I remember him talking about making a bet with one of his friends in physics about the existence of a black hole. The prize was a Playboy subscription. Awesome.
e. Untitled (as of yet), by Tim Budziszewski - Does this count? A book unwritten? In The Sandman comics, the dreaming world contains a library of books only dreamed of and never written. But there they are, complete, bound, and on the shelves. I think that's awesome. Anyway, I had a dream one night. One of those movie-like ones with a complete story and everything. Luckily I woke up and wrote down the ideas right away. (For some reason, the characters in my dream were all from He-Man, but that's beside the point). Basically it's a sci-fi story set in the near future. Earth was invaded by a race of aliens whose sole purpose is to spread across the universe to planets with intelligent life and make sure they are progressing the way they believe lifeforms should progress. You know- clean house, steal all remaining weapons from the humans, do genetic experiments, etc. Basically interstellar communists. There was a great war 40 years before the beginning of the story in which the humans almost succeeded in revolting against the aliens. (The humans called the aliens "The Watchers" because they had been watching the progression of humanity for centuries before their invasion). The problem with the first war was that the humans were outnumbered, with few effective weapons, and no means of communication between each other. So, one of the characters discovers the secret solution to that communication problem in a cave during an exile. I can't give away the secret, though. Because then I would have to kill you, or hire you to write my novel. It's one of the things I want to do before I die, so hopefully I've got a lot of time in which to improve my writing skills. Scratch that.. GET writing skills. Erika is a great wordsmith, and I've explained what I have of the story so far to her. It still needs a lot of thinkin' done about it, and a lot of research. Sci-fi geeks will not stand for holes in the story (I let 'em slide in time-travel stories, because they are inevitable, but that's IT!) so I gotta make sure I do it right. Someday maybe. I'll let you know when it's in a bookstore near you!

5. Extra credit question, ‘What book would you wish to buy next'?
--- I heard The DaVinci Code was good. I should read it before the movie comes out in case they make it suck. But Tom Hanks is always awesome. There are still PLENTY of time-travel books, too. As for what I will read next, I think I'll finish The Self Aware Universe. It's got some really awesome ideas in it which I'm sure I'll write about when I'm done with it.

So, there you are. Now, I am tagging Jon, Kevin, Dave, Jameel, Sunspot, and Ben Weasel. So, respond if you will. And if you have a blog, feel free to tag yourself and answer these insightful queries. Ciao.